"MY  TRIP  ABROAD" 


prntate  fctstrttwttmt 


FRED  LOCKLEY 

RARE  WESTERN  BOOKS 

4227  S.  E.  Stark  St. 
PORTLAND,  ORE. 


"MY  TRIP  ABROAD" 

By 


EXPLANATORY. 


The  writer  left  Sacramento,  California,  in  February,  1904, 
crossed  the  Atlantic  and  returned  in  March,  1905. 

Some  local  newspapers  kindly  published  several  Of  his 
letters  and  he  reprints  and  sends  them  to  friends  who  have  not 
seen  them. 

The  California  Bankers'  Association  at  its  session  in  Los 
Angeles  in  May,  1904,  voted  to  send  to  the  writer  a  cablegram  of 
good  wishes;  and  the  writer  therefore  sends  this  pamphlet  to 
each  of  the  bankers  as  an  acknowledgement  and  with  the  hope 
that  he  can  meet  them  and  thank  them  personally  at  the  Con- 
vention in  Oakland  in  May,  1905. 

Very  respectfully, 


April,  1905. 


Z3elU  of  life  at  <Tartsba6 


CARLSBAD,  July  20,  1904. — We  came  here  yesterday  and 
]are  located  at  the  Hotel  Bristol,  on  top  of  one  of  the  high  hills 
.overlooking  the  town  and  canyon,  on  both  sides  of  which  there 
are  blocks  of  hotels  and  boarding-houses.  A  small  stream  is  car- 
ried at  the  base  of  the  hills  between  high  stone  walks,  and  in 
winter  this  now  insignificant  river  is  said  to  become  a  raging  tor- 
rent. The  water  is  clear  and  pure  and  many  fish  are  to  be  seen. 

In  the  lower  town  there  are  dozens  of  shops  open  during  the 
season  which  display  fancy  wares  and  jewelry  from  the  biggest 
places  in  Europe.  The  streets  are  very  clean  and  seem  to  be 
crowded  with  thousands  of  people,  the  greater  part  of  them  look- 
.ing  as  if  they  needed  nothing  in  the  world  but  a  good  time.  Some, 
however,  are  yellow  in  color,  showing  a  tendency  to  liver  trou- 
bles, for  which  the  Carlsbad  water  is  used. 

THE    CARLSBAD    WATERS. 

Everybody  has  a  little  strap  over  the  shoulder,  wherefrom 
hangs  his  drinking  glass,  which  will  hold  a  half  pint.  This  morn- 
ing we  got  up  at  6  o'clock,  buckled  on  our  cups  and  wended  our 
way  down  the  stone  road  to  the  long  and  handsome  Muhlbrunnen 
Collonade.  Here  we  joined  a  double  line  of  500  people,  and  all 
marched  slowly  around  the  colonnade  until  we  came  to  the  part 
where  the  spring  water,  almost  without  stopping  the  long  proces- 
sion. We  had  a  little  packet  of  Sprudel  salt  which  we  were  di- 
rected to  dissolve  in  the  water  and  then  sip  the  solution  slowly  as 
we  walked  up  the  street. 

Soon  we  came  to  another  colonnade,  where  the  larger  Spru- 
del Spring  is  found,  and  around  which  are  huge  cakes  of  the 
Sprudel  salts  obtained  by  the  evaporation  of  the  waters.  Here  in 
•a  basin  about  twenty  feet  in  circumference  old  Sprudel  was 
throwing  up  jets  of  water  and  steam  about  six  feet  high,  just  as 
it  has  done  for  hundreds  of  years. 

A     CALDRON     AND    WITCHES. 

It  is  said  to  have  stopped  for  three  days  at  the  time  of  the 
great  earthquake  at  Lisbon.  Around  the  caldron  were  the  witches 

1326267 


— pretty  girls  wearing  white  rubber  caps  and  capes.  Some  of 
these  had  poles  with  cups  at  the  ends,  into  which  our  glasses  were 
placed  and  held  in  the  center  of  the  fountain  until  full,  and  given 
to  us  to  drink.  Then  we  fall  into  line  again  and  go  to  the  Muhl- 
brunnen  for  the  customary  second  cup.  They  say  the  water  must 
be  vlrank  warm  and  slowly  and  on  an  empty  stomach,  allowing 
fifteen  minutes  between  two  cups.  After  that  wait  half  an  hour 
foi  breakfast,  and  you,  are  sure  to  eat  that  meal. 

LIFE     AT     THE     WATERING     PLACE. 

The  hill  we  climb  to  reach  our  hotel  is  bout  the  hight  of 
those  at  Sausalito.  At  n  o'clock  we  go  for  our  baths  and  then 
dine  at  1 130.  The  fare  is  excellent.  There  are  many  Germans 
here  and  Jews  with  long  coats  and  a  curl  down  each  ear ;  in  fact, 
the  place  is  full  of  all  nationalities.  We  are  having  a  treat  to- 
day in  the  form  of  thunder  and  lightning.  Black  clouds  are 
gathering  over  the  mountain  tops  out  of  which  come  flashes  of 
light  and  peals  of  thunder,  which  roll  into  the  valleys  with  a  great 
noise. 

HOUSES  AND  PEOPLE. 

Every  house  here  is  of  stone  and  just  four  stories  high.  They 
are  "close  together  and  in  the  front  yard  each  has  a  tent  so  that 
they  can  claim  to  give  outdoor  meals  to  their  guests.  A  porter  is 
also  connected  with  every  house  who  wears  a  gold  band  around 
his  cap.  The  people  here  may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  one  of 
which  comprises  the  thousands  of  guests,  who  must  stay  here  at 
least  two  weeks,  and  the  other  are  the  working  people  who  cater 
to  the.  travelers  and  invalids,  and  who  are  said  to  number  about 
fifteen  thousand. 

THE    SPRINGS. 

As  soon  as  the  drinkers  have  finished  their  morning  draughts 
the  young  girls  retire  and  their  places  are  filled  by  women  in 
black,  and  also  men,  who  work  day  and  night  in  bottling  the 
water  for  exportation.  There  are  about  a  dozen  of  these  springs 
in  the  two-mile  section,  and  they  all  seem  to  be  alike  except  as  to 
temperature.  Rich  and  poor  come  here  for  relief  and  the  city 
spares  no  expense  in  keeping  the  streets  and  public  buildings 
clean  and  attractive.  We  have  to  pay  about  $15  as  a  tax  for  sup- 
porting the  bands  of  music  and  bathhouses,  although  each  bath 
is  also  charged  for  at  eighty  cents.  People  forget  here  that  they 
are  sick  and  easily  take  to  the  routine  of  early  rising,  walking, 
exercise,  dieting  and  the  continued  use  of  the  saline  waters. 

POINTS     OF    INTEREST    ABOUT    CARLSBAD. 

Near  Carlsbad  there  are  a  number  of  interesting  places.  One 
can  go  out  in  the  morning  and  return  in  the  evening  in  each 
case.  Elbogen  is  ten  miles  away,  with  a  fine  old  castle  and  a 

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pleasant  highway  through  a  rocky  gorge.  Marienbad  is  twenty 
miles  distant  and  is  trying  to  rival  Carlsbad ;  it  is  more  modern 
and  has  finer  hotels  and  parks,  and  entertains  more  Kings  and 
Emperors,  but  we,  the  commoners,  all  come  to  this  ancient  spot 
where  the  kettle  of  hot  mineral  waters  has  been  boiling  for  cen- 
turies deep  down  under  the  bed  of  the  immense  ravine  and  spout- 
ing regularly  once  every  five  seconds  in  all  that  time. 

Four  miles  away  is  the  little  village  of  Pirkenhammer,  with 
a  fine  beer  garden.  While  that  is  only  one  of  a  dozen  similar 
places,  yet  it  is  unique  because  the  girls  wear  the  old-time  cos- 
tumes of  the  peasants — a  kerchief  over  the  head,  queer  corsets 
with  bustles,  skirts  down  to  the  knees,  white  stockings  and  heavy 
shoes. 

A  PORCELAIN  MANUFACTORY. 

Close  to  this  quaint  place  is  a  large  factory  where  they  make 
porcelain  ware  of  all  kinds  and  you  can  see  samples  in  the  shops 
of  San  Francisco  and  Sacramento.  They  grind  the  clay  and 
quartz  slowly  and  thoroughly  until  it  is  finer  than  flour.  They  put 
it  on  wheels  and  into  moulds  and  fashion  it  into  plates  and  jugs 
and  then  they  put  it  into  the  furnaces  for  the  first  baking.  It  is 
then  coated  with  glazing;  next  it  is  painted  with  colors  and  gold 
by  the  use  of  the  finest  brushes.  The  artists  draw  with  these  lit- 
tle pencils  the  most  intricate  designs  and  monograms  offhand. 
After  the  last  baking  the  results  come  forth  as  works  of  art, 
which,  to  my  mind,  rival  the  costly  bracelets  which  the  jewelers 
show  here  in  their  many  shops. 

THE    GLASS    BLOWERS. 

In  another  suburb  are  to  be  found  the  glass  blowers,  whose 
work  cannot  be  easily  described.  We  saw  men  blowing  glass 
into  the  form  of  oblong  bottles,  which  was  puzzling ;  in  the  next 
room  they  put  these  bottles  within  a  revolving  circle  which  con- 
.  tains  diamond  points,  and  quickly  a  line  was  cut  around  each 
bottle;  the  top  was  broken  off  and  thrown  away  and,  lo,  there 
was  a  goblet. 

The  goblet  was  ground  and  polished  and  cut  on  emery 
wheels  in  the  next  room  until  it  became  fit  to  be  placed  in  the 
showroom  among  its  mates  of  every  shape  and  color  and  priced 
as  high  as  you  could  afford  to  pay — and  higher. 

WISE    ADMINISTRATION. 

The  most  beautiful  spot  is  about  seven  miles  away,  where 
a  spring  of  clear,  cold  water  comes  up.  It  is  seen  in  the  bottom 
of  a  fine  marble  tank,  appears  to  be  a  foot  in  diameter  and  rises 
a  foot  above  the  surface  of  the  water  in  this  basin;  thence  it 
flows  away  to  the  bottlers.  The  50,000  visitors  who  come  here 
annually  are  taxed  directly  by  the  city  and  the  money  is  used 
mainly  to  build  and  repair  the  eighty  miles  of  walks  around  these 

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hills.  Nobody  grumbles  at  this,  for  the  direct  tax  is  less  than 
it  would  be  if  it  were  placed  upon  the  hundreds  of  hotels  and  col- 
lected by  the  landlords  in  the  form  of  concealed,  but  increased^ 
charges. 

The  whole  town  is  run  with  wisdom  to  insure  the  comfort 
and  health  of  the  visitors.  There  are  no  gambling  hells  nor  sa- 
loons; there  are  no  thieves,  harlots  or  drunkards.  Every  man, 
woman  and  child  is  on  the  registry  books  of  the  police  in  one  way 
or  another,  and  if  the  men  from  the  numerous  factories  nearby 
should  be  found  in  Carlsbad  at  any  late  hour  in  the  night  prob- 
ably the  policeman,  who  wears  a  helmet  and  sword,  would  send 
them  home.  It  is  paternal  government,  but  very  good. 

HOW     CLEANLINESS     IS     ASSURED. 

The  little  creek  which  runs  through  the  town  carries  about 
an  inch  of  water  as  to  depth,  and  four  feet  in  width,  but  in  winter 
it  becomes  a  raging  torrent  and  fills  and  overflows  the  stone  canal 
which  contains  it;  this  canal  is  forty  feet  wide  and  fifteen  feet 
deep,  and  is  crossed  by  numerous  bridges.  Now,  this  canal  is 
paved  for  miles  and  is  swept  daily.  It  does  not  carry  the  sewage, 
for  that  goes  into  large  underground  pipes.  To  insure  cleanhV 
ness  and  neatness  they  spend  more  time  and  money  on  this  little 
river  than  is  spent  upon  J  street  or  K  street.  If  any  fevers  ap- 
pear they  are  traced  and  the  cause  is  removed  immediately.  Fu- 
nerals seems  to  be  unknown.  People  die,  of  course,  but  the  fact 
is  not  published  and  the  ceremony  is  private.  When  this  com- 
munity is  trying  to  make  everyone  live,  why  should  attention  be 
drawn  to  the  failure  of  some  poor  fellow  to  follow  the  plan? 

VIENNA    LEADS    PARIS    IN    FASHIONS. 

The  swell  shopkeepers  of  Vienna  have  agencies  here,  and 
Vienna  leads  Paris  n6w  as  to  fashions.  This  is  an  important  fact 
and  you  can  give  it  to  your  lady  friends.  I  get  the  information 
from  ladies  who  buy  in  London  and  Paris,  but  who  prefer  to 
buy  here  because  of  the  excellence  of  the  Viennese  modistes.  The 
lady  for  whom  I  am  acting  as  courier,  interpreter  and  paymaster 
has  been  negotiating  with  all  of  these  modistes  for  a  simple  little 
traveling  dress  which  would  cost  $25  in  Sacramento,  but  which 
will  only  cost  forty  thousand  helters.  While  that  is  a  trifle  more, 
yet  the  style  and  the  fit  and  the  tout  ensemble  and  the  Vienna 
mark  will  be  worth  it. 


Cetter  from  Switzerland 


GENEVA  (Switzerland),  August  30,  1904. — If  you  wish  to 
know  Switzerland,  come  and  see  it.  The  cost  will  be  from  $5  to 
$10  per  day,  but  it  is  worth  it.  Or  you  can  buy  Howell's  "Little 
Swiss  Sojourn"  for  50  cents,  and  other  books  which  will  amuse 
you  more  than  the  letters  of  the  usual  traveler.  Anyhow,  I  can 
not  describe  the  mountains,  nor  perhaps  anything,  so  that  you 
can  be  benefited. 

The  lakes  are  all  beautiful  and  remind  us  of  Tahoe  and  Inde- 
pendence. The  water  is  clear,  cold,  deep  and  blue  or  green.  At 
evening  the  mountains  around  form  a  dark  purple  wall,  and  the 
lights  on  shore  shine  across. 

Just  now,  with  your  best  girl,  you  can  watch  the  eastern 
crest  for  the  rising  of  the  old,  old  face  of  silver  light,  and  sing 
"The  man  in  the  moon  is  laughing,  love; 
Laughing  at  you  and  me." 

There  are  many  swans  on  these  lakes,  some  having  white 
bodies  and  black  necks  and  heads;  also  many  pretty  little  sea- 
gulls, whose  bodies  are  the  size  of  pigeons.  Then  there  are  sloops 
with  two  masts  each,  carrying  a  large  three-cornered  sail ;  these 
are  often  "wing  and  wing,"  and  add  to  the  view. 

A  GREAT  WASTE  OF  POWER. 

The  water  of  Lake  Constance  goes  into  the  Rhine,  and  thence 
to  the  Straits  of  Dover.  Does  some  water  from  Switzerland  go 
into  the  Danube,  and  thence  to  Constantinople?  I  do  not  know; 
anyhow,  the  water  from  Lake  Geneva  goes  into  the  Rhone  and 
so  through  France  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar. 

The  most  fascinating  spot  to  me  in  Europe  is  the  bridge  at 
Geneva,  over  this  overflow.  I  gaze  upon  a  gate  about  five  feet 
wide  and  see  a  solid  mass  of  water  tumble  down  ten  feet;  it  is 
a  moving  and  glinting  emerald ;  it  would  be  worth  more  than  its 
weight  and  bulk  in  diamonds  if  it  were  flowing  in  desert  Arizona 
or  down  from  the  crest  of  Nob  Hill  in  San  Francisco. 

Now  see  how  they  waste  their  wealth  here.  There  are  more 
than  twenty  such  gates  under  that  bridge  and  the  power  is  not 

7 


used  to  any  great  extent.  After  that  the  river  tumbles  down 
twenty  feet  and  is  divided  into  two  canals  by  an  island. 

One  of  these  two  currents  passes  by  the  island  unchecked, 
while  the  other  current  drops  about  twenty  feet  through  turbine 
wheels  which  pump  a  part  of  this  splendid  water  back  into  the 
city,  giving  a  pressure  which  is  equal  to  150  feet. 

They  have  no  fire  engines  here,  and  no  fires.  In  every  part 
of  this  big  city  they  have  placed  large  stone  basins  into  which 
the  water  runs  night  and  day  unceasingly.  Here  the  people  wash 
their  clothes.  On  the  lake  front  is  a  fountain  which  goes  up  115 
feet. 

A  little  further  down  the  Rhone  there  is  another  turbine 
plant,  but  it  probably  uses  only  a  part  of  the  power  which  is 
available.  All  over  this  land  there  is  an  immense  amount  of 
water  power  going  to  waste.  So  it  has  been  always ;  it  will  always 
be  a  blot  upon  the  reputation  of  Julius  Caesar  (great  and  good 
as  he  was  when  he  came  here  as  a  tourist  2000  years  ago),  that 
he  did  not  know  enough  to  put  in  a  double-wound,  alternating 
electric  dynamo  and  shock  the  world.  He  did  not  understand  the 
gravity  of  the  subject,  as  the  motormen  of  to-day  know  it.  The 
latter  have  made  a  beginning,  and  are  establishing  factories  and 
mountain  railways  in  Switzerland  which  are  well  worth  seeing. 

The  snow  upon  the  crests  of  the  Jungfrau  and  Mount  Blanc 
gradually  melts  and  descends  to  the  valleys,  but  may  be  said  to 
be  raising  part  of  its  weight  back  to  the  summits.  At  the  Jung- 
frau the  water  power  is  converted  into  electricity  and  taken  back 
up  the  grade  to  turn  the  wheels  of  electric  tram  cars  and  to  turn 
electric  boring  tools  which  are  opening  a  great  tunnel  to  the  high- 
est peak.  Next  year,  if  you  have  a  heart  which  will  stand  an 
elevation  of  14,000  feet,  and  a  purse  which  will  stand  $5,  you  can 
mount  the  Jungfrau  in  safety  and  gaze  out  of  a  hole  in  the  tunnel, 
like  Noah  in  the  ark  on  Mount  Ararat. 

THOUSANDS  OF  STONE  WALLS. 

For  many  centuries  the  Swiss  have  been  engaged,  not  in 
manufactures,  but  in  the  placing  of  one  stone  upon  the  top  of 
another  stone.  Vineyards  cover  the  hills  and  seem  to  be  divided 
by  walls  into  pieces  about  200  feet  long  and  100  feet  wide.  Thou- 
sands of  miles  of  these  walls  have  been  built,  breast-high,  with 
gates  into  each  block,  which  gates  are  made  of  a  single  piece  of 
sheet  iron.  Each  gate  has  a  lock,  and  the  top  edge  is  toothed 
like  a  saw.  Of  course,  many  of  these  walls  were  built  as  retain- 
ing walls,  and  so  as  to  make  terraces  on  the  hillside,  but  the 
numerous  division  walls  show  the  prevalence  of  small  holdings. 

There  are  few  pathways  and  the  grapes  are  doubtless  carried 
off  in  baskets  on  the  backs  of  the  men  and  women. 

The  latter  are  the  best  workers,  too.  Anyhow,  there  are  no 
beggars,  and  the  peasants  have  much  local  adhesiveness  and  inde- 
pendence because  of  these  small  holdings.  There  are  no  large 

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department  stores,  nor  large  hotels  either,  but  there  are  many  of 
both  and  all  good. 

You  can  get  here  a  great  deal  of  honest  service  from  the 
high  and  low,  but  underneath  it  is  a  foundation  which  rests  upon 
the  rock  and  can  endure  the  snows  of  winter.  Castles  were  built 
here,  but  not  many  nor  very  strong. 

After  visiting  the  castle  of  Chillon  one  could  see  that  the 
rebellious  peasants  of  that  Canton  could  argue  thus: 

"We  have  built  in  one  year  stone  walls  around  our  vine- 
yards equal  in  bulk  to  the  Castle.  If  the  noble  lord  does  not 
behave  we  will  gather  our  men  and  pile  up  stone  (behind  wooden 
screens  which  will  stop  his  arrows)  until  we  have  made  an  in- 
cline up  to  the  top  of  his  wall,  and  then  march  up  to  his  attic 
and  fight  him  down  into  his  celebrated  prison  in  the  basement." 

Anyhow,  the  Swiss  have  always  fought  for  liberty,  and 
always  will  fight. 

If  you  wish  to  know  if  a  man  were  born  in  Switzerland, 
ask  him  first  if  he  can  build  a  stone  wall.  If  he  says  he  can, 
then  ask  him  if  he  can  make  an  omelette.  If  he  cannot  do  that, 
then  he  is  no  Swiss,  for  everybody  here  eats  an  omelette  every 
day  in  the  year. 

CHIEF  PRODUCTS  OF  SWITZERLAND. 

The  egg  crop  in  America  is  said  to  be  worth  more  than  the 
grain  crop — but  here  they  raise  little  besides  eggs,  chickens, 
potatoes  and  wine.  When  they  wish  anything  else  they  get 
money  from  abroad  by  making  a  watch  or  a  shawl,  or  by  selling 
eggs  and  chickens  to  the  tourists  in  their  countless  hotels.  Cer- 
tainly the  poet  was  born  in  Switzerland  who  wrote  those  classic 
words  as  a  riddle: 

"Humpty  Dumpty  sat  on  a  wall, 
Humpty  Dumpty  had  a  great  fall; 

All  the  King's  horses  and  all  the  King's  men 
Cannot  put  Dumpty  together  again." 

Sixty  years  ago  the  answer  to  the  riddle  was,  "an  egg  fell 
off  a  wall." 

New  hotels  are  building  everywhere,  and  waiters  and  con- 
cierges are  becoming  landlords.  Thousands  of  waiters  wear  the 
swallowtail  from  6  in  the  morning  until  midnight.  Thousands 
of  porters  wear  the  costume  of  the  Admiral  of  the  Navy.  What 
an  army  they  would  make,  but  I  think  I  could  halt  them  moment- 
arily, for  they  will  all  halt  and  bow  for  the  franc. 

Travelers  are  very  well  treated  here,  and  each  can  call  his 
hotel  a  "pension,"  which  means  that  he  can  make  terms  by  the 
week  or  month. 

I  have  no  "pension,"  although  Uncle  Sam  stands  ready  to 
give  me  one  upon  my  applying  for  it,  but  his  pension  would  not 
pay  for  a  "pension"  here. 

9 


A  NEW  SCHEME  OF  EXISTENCE. 

If  one  had  capital  enough,  one  could  prepay  almost  all  his 
future  expenses  in  the  following  manner:  He  could  give  the 
bulk  of  his  money  to  the  life  insurance  company  (I  claim  the 
agent's  commission  on  this  plan),  and  draw  it  back  in  annual 
payments  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  For  this  sum  Cook  &  Son  would 
sell  him  coupons  which  would  board  and  lodge  him  at  any  hotel 
in  any  part  of  the  world  and  provide  transportation  tickets  for 
every  day  in  the  year.  Moreover,  he  could  prepay  certain  firms 
in  America  or  England  so  that  his  clothes  and  cigars  would  be 
sent  him  by  mail  quarterly  to  any  part  of  the  world. 

Some  ready  cash,  however,  must  the  man  have  in  his  pocket, 
for  the  tipping  system  in  Europe  is  established  until  the  Mikado 
and  the  Czar  shall  combine  their  armies  to  stop  it.  All  the  pow- 
ers have  tried,  and  failed. 

IS  WILLIAM  TELL  A  MYTH? 

I  was  told  that  William  Tell  is  a  myth  (like  Santa  Claus), 
but  I  was  shown  his  chapel  on  Lake  Lucerne  and  retained  my 
childhood  faith  in  him  until  I  went  to  Lausanne  and  saw  a  large 
statue  of  Tell  in  front  of  the  Federal  Palace. 

There  he  stood  alone.  His  son  was  not  there ;  not  even  an 
apple  was  there. 

The  average  schoolboy  has  ever  ranked  the  son  with  Casa- 
bianca,  and  if  the  apple  and  the  son  are  myths,  there  is  nothing 
to  Tell ! 

The  Swiss  are  fine  people  and  have  flourishing  cities,  and 
each  city  has  a  magnificent  Post  Office. 

POSTAL  CARD  ADVERTISING. 

In  their  postal  service  is  concealed  (in  my  judgment),  a 
fine  stroke  of. business.  Many  millions  of  beautiful  views  on 
postal  cards  are  printed  and  sold  annually.  Each  one  costs  two 
cents  and  the  postage  is  two  cents  more.  You  find  them  on  sale 
at  all  places.  You  climb  the  highest  mountain  and  get  upon  crags 
where  you  know  the  foot  of  man  never  before  trod,  and  where 
perhaps  the  eagle  has  never  come,  and  then  you  turn  the  next 
corner  and  there  you  find  a  boy  with  postal  card  pictures  of  that 
spot  and  view.  The  result  is  that  your  wife  immediately  stops 
looking  at  the  view,  and  goes  and  buys  a  dozen  and  mails  them 
to  America,  where  they  serve  to  advertise  Switzerland  and  to 
increase  the  travel. 

Doubtless  the  Government  conspires  to  have  these  cards 
sold  to  the  peddlers  at  less  than  cost.  Their  national  flag  is  a 
white  cross  on  a  red  ground,  and  wherever  it  floats  the  traveler 
can  be  welcomed  and  relieved  better  than  under  the  Red  Cross 
in  other  lands. 


10 


(Hassle 


HEIDELBERG  (Germany),  September  '  J,  i$$4»  «**  ¥  his 
classic  city  seems  to  be  at  the  mouth  of  an  exteiisiVe  and  fertile 
valley  which  is  drained  by  the  Neckar  that  empties  into  the  Rhine. 

Here  is  a  series  of  hills  and  many  years  ago  some  people 
built  a  little  wall  on  top  of  one  of  them,  and  levied  a  tak  on  all 
who  crossed  the  river  or  came  down  the  valley.  The  plan  worked 
so  well  that  the  wall  became  a  castle,  and  then  a  palace ;  the  river 
got  a  fine  stone  bridge  with  a  strong  gate  and  towers  at  one  end, 
and  the  city  grew  at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 

Some  rivals  in  the  similar  line  of  collecting  money  from  the 
common  people  came  along  and  the  castle  and  palace  have  been 
destroyed  and  rebuilt  several  times. 

The  conflicting  elements  have  lately  organized  a  "holding 
trust,"  which  is  administered  very  well  by  one  called  "Hock  der 
Kaiser." 

To  the  tourist  the  situation  here  is  most  charming;  almost 
as  attractive  as  the  Alhambra  in  Spain. 

We  took  a  guide  who  spoke  good  English ;  he  was  old  arid 
gray,  and  hardly  five  feet  high,  but  very  pleasant  and  intelligent. 
He  had  been  a  waiter  in  many  palaces  in  Europe  and  could  corii^ 
pare  one  country  with  another.  Stranger  still,  he  was  an  ab- 
stainer from  wine  or  beer.  At  the  table  in  the  garden  he  would 
order  mineral  water  for  us,  and  drink  his  share,  but  he  would  not 
sit  down  with  us,  although  we  told  him  to  be  seated. 

He  was  very  fond  of  many  varieties  of  trees  which  have 
been  planted  in  the  grounds  around  the  castle  by  the  Botanical 
School  of  the  Heidelberg  University.  He  showed  us  there  the 
pines  from  California,  and  from  Spain,  and  the  two  yew  trees 
which  are  said  to  have  been  planted  by  the  Romans  at  the  date 
known  as  between  oo  B.  C.  and  oo  A.  D.  The  ruins  are  all  of  one 
color,  red  stone,  and  one  portion  of  the  palace  has  been  rebuilt 
in  fine  style,  so  that  the  views  are  many  and  different  and  pleas- 
ing. Of  course,  we  went  down  into  the  cellar  and  saw  the  big 
barrels ;  the  largest  will  hold  50,000  gallons,  but  it  has  been  filled 
but  three  times;  there  has  been  no  wine  in  that  cellar  for  many 

11 


years.  In  one  corner  stands  a  wooden  statue  over  four  feet 
high,  representing  Perkeo,  who  was  the  King's  jester,  and  who 
could  drink  eighteen  bottles  of  wine  each  day;  the  figure  was 
painted  and  was  holding  a  red  glass  of  wine.  The  similarity  in 
size  between  this  statue  and  our  guide  was  such  that  we  glanced 
at  him,  whereupon  he  smiled  and  pulled  out  of  his  pockets  a  num- 
ber of  photographs  of  himself  dressed  as  Perkeo.  It  seems  there 
was  a  jubilee  centennial  of  the  university,  and  one  of  the  students' 
clubs  dressed  him  as  Perkeo,  and  Perkeo  he  had  been  ever  since. 

When  pressed  to  take  wine  for  the  sake  of  Perkeo  he  would 
say,  "Perkeo  is  very  dry  inside  and  will  remain  dry  until  50,000 
gallons  of  wine  have  been  put  again  into  the  big  tun." 

Then  Perkeo  took  us  down  intc*the  beautiful  city  and  showed 
us  the  two  or  three  large,  plain  buildings  which  contain  the 
thirty  classrooms  of  the  celebrated  Heidelberg  University. 

There  was  little  else  to  see  except  the  adjoining  house  which 
contains  the  half  dozen  rooms  wherein  those  students  are  con- 
fined who  otherwise  would  be  in  the  City  Jail.  Among  1800  boys . 
who  will  wear  caps  of  green,  red  and  yellow,  and  drink  beer,  it 
follows  that  some  will  sing  out  loud  after  midnight,  and  do  other 
foolish  things.  It  is  the  custom  here  to  arrest  them  the  same  as 
the  common  people  and  take  their  names.  The  university  then 
tries  them  and  they  are  sentenced  to  the  University  Jail  for  five 
days  or  two  weeks,  according  to  the  loudness  of  the  singing,  or 
the  size  of  the  sin,  or  the  quality  of  the  sinner.  These  rooms  are 
barren  of  comforts,  but  the  students  have  covered  the  walls  with 
grotesque  pictures,  and  many  of  the  convicts  have  fastened  their 
photographs  on  the  walls.  So  we  may  infer  that  the  disgrace 
is  not  lasting,  and  that  many  graduates  come  back  to  view  the 
scenes  of  their  childhood  and  chuckle  over  the  errors  of  their 
youth. 

In  the  classroom  devoted  to  philosophy  the  ancient  desks 
were  carved  deeply  by  the  knives  of  the  lazy  or  the  incapable 
students.  Perkeo  here  told  of  his  dog  which  was  very  intelli- 
gent, and  which  was  taught  many  tricks. 

He  tried  to  teach  the  dog  to  take  a  stick  of  a  certain  length 
in  his  mouth  and  pull  it  between  the  iron  bars  of  the  railing 
around  the  university  pumps. 

The  dog  would  put  his  nose  between  the  bars  and  seize  the 
stick  but  only  on  rare  occasions  would  he  chance  to  get  it  per- 
pendicular so  that  it  would  pass  through ;  showing  the  dog  how 
to  do  it  taught  him  nothing.  Perkeo  and  his  dog  were  such 
favorites  and  the  attempts  were  so  interesting  that  all  the  stu- 
dents and  professors  knew  of  them ;  but  finally  the  Professor  of 
Philosophy  explained  to  his  class  that  an  animal  could  learn  a 
few  things  to  do,  but  could  not  learn  to  reason  from  one  fact  to 
another,  and  the  professor  added  that  the  gentleman  who  carved 
the  desks  in  his  classroom  could  learn  nothing  from  him,  but 
possibly  he  might  learn  something  from  Perkeo.  So  the  dog 
retired  from  the  university,  for  he  was  an  unpleasant  reminder. 

12 


We  have  seen  many  ancient  and  historic  monuments  over 
the  ashes  of  the  great,  but  we  have  passed  also  the  more  numer- 
ous and  modern  signs  of  art  and  progress.  These  are  tall  and 
round,  and  pour  out  incense  from  their  tops.  These  latter  monu- 
ments over  the  ashes  of  the  great  are  the  more  honorable,  I  think. 


Ufistoric 


COLOGNE  (Germany),  September  8,  1904. — The  journey 
from  Frankfort  to  this  city  may  be  made  on  either  one  of  the 
railways  which  follow  respectively  the  right  and  the  left  banks 
of  the  Rhine,  or  it  can  be  made  on  a  good  steamer  built  to  hold 
400  tourists  and  generally  well  patronized  every  day.  These  two 
cities  seem  to  be  finer  than  San  Francisco.  They  are  about  150 
miles  apart  and  the  trains  are  constantly  passing  each  other  on 
their  double  tracks,  loaded  with  freight  and  travelers.  The  rail- 
ways are  built  in  the  most  substantial  manner ;  stone  walls  which 
hold  the  earth  above  the  tracks  or  raise  the  tracks  above  the  roads 
and  villages,  are  almost  continuous. 

The  trip  down  the  river  is  not  very  exciting,  for  the  ruined 
castles  are  not  more  attractive  than  the  pyramids,  being  masses 
of  dark  blocks  of  stone,  devoid  of  present  and  future  liveliness, 
and  reminding  one  unpleasantly  that  the  past  is  very  dead.  It 
hurts  one's  vanity  to  look  at  these  century  stones  on  the  highway 
of  history,  for  they  seem  to  be  all  records  of  failures  of  human 
plans.  The  center  of  the  river  was  interesting,  for  we  met  dozens 
and  dozens  of  strong  steamers,  each  towing  five  or  six  large 
barges  loaded  with  raw  materials  for  Germany's  factories. 

Truly,  the  men  of  this  country  are  doing  well  and  they  look 
well.  They  average  as  a  nation  better  than  any  other  nation 
because  every  man  goes  into  the  army  for  one  or  two  years. 
There  he  gets  erect  bearing,  good  health,  quicker  brain  and  con- 
tact with  his  fellow  men.  He  learns  to  do  things  and  he  learns 
Germany  at  his  stations  as  he  never  would  know  it  otherwise. 
The  Germans  build  slowly,  but  they  build  for  the  benefit  of  their 
grandchildren. 

There  are  always  some  brides  and  grooms  to  be  seen  among 
the  tourists  on  these  express  Rhine  steamers  and  one  couple 
attracted  especially  the  attention  of  my  wife  and  myself.  He 
was  thoroughly  a  German  and  bore  the  marks  of  an  educated 
man — that  is  to  say,  he  had  the  sears  on  his  face  made  by  the 
sabers  in  the  inevitable  student  duels;  his  handsome  moustache 
was  pointed  upwards  at  the  ends;  he  was  a  stalwart  youngster, 

13 


and  really  one  could  not  afford  to  put  any  slight  in  his  presence 
upon  his  pretty  wife,  whom  he  called  "Lorraine,"  She  had  prob- 
ably some  French  blood  in  her  veins,  because  her  dress  was  more 
stylish  than  that  of  the  average  madchen.  She  was  very  bright 
and  winning  and  she  had  two  small  feet  in  tan  shoes,  Do  not 
forget  these  shoes,  for  I  did  to  my  sorrow. 

At  the  table  on  the  steamer  there  were  some  of  those  small 
rolls  of  yellow  bread  which  are  so  tempting  to  a  hungry  man 
and  when  I  sat  me  down  next  to  Frau  Lorraine  I  shook  out  my 
napkin  without  knowing  that  one  of  these  rolls  had  been  con- 
cealed in  it.  The  roll  went  under  the  table.  Down  I  went  after 
it  and  dropped  my  glasses,  but  I  grasped  the  roll.  It  moved! 
It  lived !  It  stamped  my  fingers  down  on  the  deck  and  stood  on 
them.  I  had  seized  the  madam's  foot.  When  I  appeared  above 
the  table  I  thought  there  would  be  a  scene,  but  the  little  woman 
was  quietly  sipping  a  glass  of  moselle  with  a  half  smile  on  her 
pretty  face.  So  I  wrapped  up  my  fingers  ostentatiously  in  my 
handkerchief,  and  said  nothing;  not  even  to  my  wife. 

The  women  of  Germany,  like  those  of  Ireland,  have  splendid 
reputations  and  are  doing  as  much  as  the  men,  perhaps  more, 
for  their  respective  countries.  They  are  plain  workers  but  the 
evidences  of  home  life  and  comfort  abound  everywhere.  We  see 
flatty  children  under  8  years  of  age  playing  along  the  streets, 
but  those  older  are  at  school  or  at  work.  We  see  curtains  at 
every  window,  and  when  the  Frauen  go  to  the  opera,  which  be- 
gins at  6  o'clock,  they  take  some  knitting  with  them. 

The  school  houses  are  numerous  and  well  built.  Two  new 
and  very  fine  High  Schools  have  just  been  finished  here.  I  stood 
before  them  and  took  off  my  hat  and  sent  wireless  telegraphic 
messages  of  compliments  to  the  good  women  of  Sacramento  who 
secured  the  votes  for  your  new  school, 

I  was  educated  and  so  were  my  children  in  the  public  schools 
of  Sacramento,  and  will  cheerfully  repay  the  debt  in  the  form  of 
taxes  for  schools. 

Just  now  a  band  of  students  went  by,  all  wearing  little  caps 
of  the  same  color,  although  they  come  from  the  different  parts 
of  Germany  and  they  were  singing: 

"Here's  to  the  land  that  gave  me  birth, 
Here's  to  the  flag  she  flies." 

Yes;  Germany  is  a  great  nation  and  is  winning  many  vic- 
tories of  peace  all  around  the  world. 


Visit  to  tfye  bourse  at 


BRUSSELS  (Belgium),  September  16,  iQO^—Reading  the 
war  news  from  Manchuria  one  is  much  impressed  'by  the  state- 
ment that  this  war,  ariti  in  fact  all  wars,  may  be  said  to  arise 
from  the  fact  that  people  wish  to  live — in  other  words  the  Strug* 
gle  for  living  breeds  competition  and  sometimes  that  results  in 
general  slaughter.  It  would  be  most  instructive  and  interesting 
if  the  economic  history  of  the  world  were  written  out  briefly 
showing  that  the  desire  for  food  and  possessions  drove  one  set 
of  people  ineo  conflict  with  another  set,  and  the  establishing 
of  the  true  doctrine  that /'might  makes  right."  Cain  killed  Aebel 
because  Abel  had  things  which  Cain  wished  and  because  the 
latter  was  the  stronger.  Ever  since  the  descendants  of  Cain  have 
followed  in  his  footsteps  and  Abel  and  his  descendants  have 
disappeared  in  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 

CASTLES  IN  SPAIN  AND  ELSEWHERE. 

While  we  have  not  seen  the  Garden  of  Eden,  nor  Palestine, 
nor  Egypt,  nor  Greece,  yet  we  have  seen  castles  in  Italy,  Austria, 
Spain,  Switzerland,  Germany,  Holland  and  Belgium,  and '  toe 
have  seen  the  palaces  and  portraits  of  the  workers  who  divided 
or  contested  power  with  the  nobles.  We  have  read  of  the  fre- 
quent warfares  waged  between  capital  and  labor,  classing  among 
the  capitalists  those  whose  power,  wealth  and  prerogatives  were 
derived  through  accident  of  birth,  and  to-day  we  have  seen  the 
spot  which  marked  one  epoch  in  this  struggle. 

WATERLOO  BATTLEFIELD. 

When  the  French  put  up  the  guillotine  as  a  machine  which 
should  abolish  past  abuses  and  cut  off  the  heads  of  those  who 
controlled  these  oppressions  by  right  of  birth,  their  affairs  were 
finally  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  was  conservative. 

He  so  wielded  the  extremes  of  society  in  Europe  that  he  be- 
came the  giant  of  the  age,  but  the  other  monarchs  still  feared 
him  and  finally  met  him  some  twelve  miles  south  of  Brussels  on 

15 


a  gently  rolling  country  which  bears  no  marks  of  interest  save 
a  large  mound,  and  there  they  beat  him  forever.  The  field  of 
Waterloo  is  uninteresting  and  seemingly  lacking  in  points  of 
strategic  strength. 

NO  DECORATION  OF  GRAVES  AT  WATERLOO. 

No  graves  of  soldiers  are  to  be  found  there.  Those  who  fell 
were  buried  anywhere  and  without  identifying  marks.  There  is 
no  decoration  of  graves  yearly  at  Mount  St.  Pean  or  at  Quatre 
Bas.  The  moriarchs  have  sirfce  then  been  conquered  by  the 
Napoleonic  ideas.  He  is  mightier  in  his  tomb  in  Paris  than  when 
he  was  alive  and  at  the  head  of  his  armies,  at  Berlin  or  Vienna, 
for  nearly  every  nation  can  now  make  its  own  laws  and  can 
peaceably  revolutionize  its  own  government.  In  France  and  Eng- 
land the  respective  Parliaments  are  supreme,  and  while  the  Prime 
Minister  in  each  land  may  be  retired  and  his  opponent  can  take 
his  place,  yet  the  King  of  England  and  the  President  of  France 
are  not  affected  by  such  changes  any  more  than  .the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  will  be  affected  by  the  Presidential  contest  in  our 
land.  However,  enough  of -heavy  truisms. 

A  LITTLE  TASTE  OF  BUSINESS. 

I  will  confide  to  you  that  I  have  had  a  little  taste  of  business 
in  this  great  city  of  Brussels.  The  Bourse  of  Commerce  here 
occupied  a  magnificent  building,"  as  fine  as  the  City  Hall  of  San 
Francisco,  and  second  only  to  the  Palace  of  Justice  near  by,  which 
is  as  large  as  St.  Peter's  at"  Rome.  The  bourse  is  the  Stock  Ex- 
change, and  in  this  country  it  buys  or  sells  few  shares;  partly 
because  such  shares  as  those  of  the  Credit  Lyonnaise  are  quoted 
at  1160  and  the  shares  of  the  Banque  de  France  are  quoted  at 
3775,  which  prevents  small  speculators  from  dealing  in  them, 
and  partly  because  rich  people  here  will  not  gamble  in  stocks. 
Now,  my  letter  of  credit  was  issued  by  one  of  the  best  banks  in 
San  Francisco,  and  they  forgot  to  put  in  the  words  limiting  the 
amount  to  be  drawn ;  so  I  can  stay  here  quite  a  long  time  unless 
they  find  it  out.  Furthermore,  I  can  draw  on  that  bank  for  all 
they  are  worth,  and  their  standing  is  such  that  the  whole  State 
of  California  will  stand  by  them,  and  therefore  by  me.  Is  it 
strange,  then,  that  (with  all  this  backing)  I  should  be  willing  to 
go  on  the  Bourse  to-day  and  buy  a  few  snares  at  3775?  The  pur- 
chase of  ten  shares  would  create  a  furore,  and  the  price  would  go 
to  3780,  when  I  could  sell  and  make  enough  to  pay  hotel  bills  for 
one  day. 

EARLY  VISIT  TO  THE  BOURSE. 

So  this  morning  I  got  up  at  6  o'clock  and  strolled  down  to 
their  Wall  street,  the  Brussels  carpet,  so  to  speak,  whereon  I  was 
to  perform.  To  my  surprise  the  handsome  building  was  sur- 
rounded by  several  hundred  peasants,  who  had  the  right  to  sell 

16 


vegetables  until  8  o'clock,  when  the  streets  were  cleared,  and 
cleared  for  the  arrival  of  the  money  classes.  Each  woman,  for 
most  of  them  were  women,  had  a  little  cart  drawn  by  a  big  dog, 
and  each  dog  wore  a  muzzle.  These  dogs  are  really  strong  and 
savage  beasts,  but  they  pull  their  loads  faithfully.  Wishing  a 
pound  of  grapes,  I  opened  negotiations  in  my  usual  manner  by 
saying,  "Parlez  vous  Francais?"  and  then  pointing  to  what  I 
wish.  As  I  do  not  talk  French  at  all,  I  have  found  that  the  quick- 
est way  to  inform  people  of  that  fact  is  to  say  "Parley  vous  Fran- 
sais." 

A  QUESTION  OF  PRICE. 

Then  the  trouble  began;  the  price  was  evidently  I  franc,  or 
I  guilder,  or  i  kroner,  or  one  something.  As  a  guilder  is  worth 
about  twice  as  much  as  a  franc,  it  became  necessary  to  consult 
the  rate  of  exchange  between  Holland  and  Belgium,  which  was 
said  to  be  25.80  in  sterling  on  Paris.  At  this  juncture*!  gathered 
there  was  a  contest  to  maintain  the  price  of  grapes  on  the  part 
of  the  small  sellers  as  against  an  operator  from  the  village  of 
Oude-God  in  Holland;  who  had  a  capital  of  3000  guilders*  and 
who  was  trying  to  put  prices  down.  It  was  conceded  by  nearly 
all  present  that  he  could  not  last  longer  than  three  months;  for 
these  reasons :  First,  all  the  banks  were  on  the  side  of  the  women 
to  maintain  the  price  of  grapes  at  one  something.  Second,  an 
import  duty  would  be  levied  by  Belgium  as  against  grapes  which 
came  from  Oude-God  in  Holland.  Third,  this  chap  was  paying 

5  per  cent  per  annum  for  borrowed  money,  while  all  others  paid 
3  per  cent.    Then  the  dogs  began  to  fight,  and  the  women  slipped 
off  their  wooden  shoes  and  applied  them  to  the  dogs,  so  I  handed 
out  a  piece  of  silver  and  got  a: pound  of  grapes  and  some  change 
and  hurried  back  to  my  hotel  to  get  my  breakfast. 

A  LESSON  IN  FINANCE. 

I  found  that  I  had  parted  with  a  piece  of  silver  the  value  of 
which  was  unknown  to  me  and  had  one  pound  of  good  grapes 
and  a  lot  of  coppers  which  I  am  saving  as  curiosities.  Some  of 
them  have  holes  in  the  center,  and  one  is  the  size  of  a  shirt  button, 
and  it  takes  five  of  them  to  make  a  Yankee,  cent. 

So  I  reflected  that  it  might  hot  be  wise  to  operate  on  the 
Bourse  at  10  a.  m.,  when  the  old  women  there  could  beat  me  at 

6  a.  m.,  and  moreover,  the  syndicate  of  banks  whose  shares  are 
quoted  at  3775  may  find  that  the  quotation  will  go  down  to  3774 
before  the  young  man  from  Oude-God  in  Holland  gets  through 
with  the  rate  of  interest  and  the  parity  of  exchange  between  the 
money  centers  of  Europe.    I  will  use  the  letter  of  credit  only  for 
necessities  hereafter. 


17 


IHague  Convention  Overestimated 


LONDON,  October  15,  1904. — There  is  much  sentiment  for 
peace  and  little  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  those 
who  try  to  become  peacemakers.  The  Hague  Convention  is  cer- 
tainly desirable,  but  it  is  not  right  that  it  should  be  overestimated. 

On  July  29,  1899,  the  representatives  of  the  United  States 
and  of  many  other  governments  agreed  to  establish  a  permanent 
International  Court  of  Arbitration.  It  was  to  be  housed  at  The 
Hague  in  a  Palace  of  Peace,  and  for  the  building  of  it  Mr.  Carne- 
gie has  deposited  $1,500,000.  The  Court  was  organized  on  Octo- 
ber 14,  1902,  gave  its  first  decision  in  favor  of  the  United  States 
and  against  Mexico  upon  a  submitted  case  concerning  church 
property  once  belonging  to  the  missions  in  California  before  its 
conquest  by  the  United  States.. 

The  second  decision  was  in  a  case  between  the  United  States 
.and  Russia  upon  the  seizure  of  four  American  vessels  in  Behring 
^Se'a.  The  third  case  was  between  Japan  and  Great  Britain  con- 
cerning house  tax.  Then  followed  the  case  between  Great  Britain 
and  Italy  as  against  Venezuela. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  Convention  each  nation  was  to  sup- 
ply four  members  to  the  Court,  their  terms  of  service  to  be  for 
six  years:  and  any  nation  could  withdraw  from  the  Convention 
only  by  giving  notification  one  year  in  advance.  The  conditions 
under  which  the  nations  must  enter  into  this  Court  cannot  be 
defined  very  easily.  The  following  illustrations  may  assist  in 
making  it  more  easily  understood: 

In  1903,  largely  through  the  efforts  of  Sir  Thomas  Barclay, 
a  treaty  was  made  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  which 
provides  for  the  referring  to  The  Hague  Court  of  all  differences 
which  do  not  involve  vital  interests  or  national  honor,  such  sub- 
mission of  cases  to  be,  preceded  by  a  special  agreement  setting 
out  the  subject  in  dispute,  the  powers  of  the  arbitrators  and.ttie 
constitution  of  the  Court.  A  similar  treaty  was  made  on  De- 
cember 15,  1903,  between  France  and  Italy,  to  hold  good  for  five 
years.  A  similar  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  in  1897  failed  because  the  Senate  at  Washington  did  not 
ratify  it  by  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote. 

18 


These  treaties  certainly  provide  many  "cross-roads"  where 
the  adverse  interests  may  separate  and  never  Center  the  Court. 
They  may  not  agree  upon  the,  "setting  out  .of  £h,e  subject  and  the 
powers  of  the  arbitrators." 

^  In' addition  to  these  points,  the  United  States'  .Has'  constitu- 
tional limitations, to  restrict  its  actions.;  For  instance/ 'only  Goflf- 
gress  can  declare  war;  the  treaty-making  poweV  rests\: practically 
with  the  Senators  as  well  as  the  appointing  of  Ambassadors; 
bt'lier  officials  may  be  named,  but  only  with  the  consent  oi.the 
Senate. 

Hence  it  seems  evident  that  no  decision  in  The  Hague  Tri'tJu- 
nal  concerning  the  United  States  and  another  nation  (which 
decision  may  re.semble  a  treaty)  can  be  valid  in  the  former  land 
until  it  is  ratified  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate.  The  President 
and  the  Amatjssadors  cannot  bind  the  Commonwealth,  and  the 
representatives  at  The  Hague  will  have  even  less  authority  than 
the  Ambassadors. 

The  International  £ourt  of  Arbitration  has  behind  it  only 
the  strong  sentiment  or  the  world  for  peace,  and  such  temporary 
powers  in  definite  cases  as  -may  be  given  to  it  by  the  nations 
immediately  concerned.  :  ,  , 

Furthermore,  its  conclusions  are  valuable  only  so  far  as 
they  are  accepted  voluntarily  by  the  contestants. 

If  the  nations  combine  to  enforce  its  decrees  by  armies  and 
navies  who  shall  be  the  commander?  . 

Again,  it  is  as  unjust  to  compel  a  nation  to  make  peace  as 
it  is  to  compel  it  to  make  war,  and  this  may  \)e  true  even  when 
a  nation  has  submitted  to  arbitration  and  has  lost  the  case. 

Let  us  suppose  that  in  the  existing  war  between  Russia  and 
Japan  the  quarrel  had  been  submitted  by  both  to  arbitration 
and  that  the  decision  was  against  Russia,  and  thereafter  this 
absolute  monarchy  found  that  120,000,000  Russians 'were  deter- 
mined that  the  war  should  go  on,  or  that  revolution  would  follow. 
Then  consider  that  this  revolution  might  be  not  only  teVrible 
in  the  land  of  its  origin,  but  that  it  might  also  spread  into  the 
other  countries  of  Europe. 

Truly  there  are  many  things  to  consider  in  these  probleris, 
and  the  chief  question  is  this :  is  not  war  sometimes  a  more  eco- 
nomical way  of  reform,  under  existing  systems,  than  through 
revolutions  and  anarchy? 

Therefore,  we  may  conclude  that  The  Hague  Tribunal  is, 
and  always  will  be,  only  a  sort  of  under  court  to  diplomacy; 
that  the  Ambassadors  will  adjust  privately  all  of  the  difficulties 
which  must  arise  daily  in  the  immense  volume  of  intercourse 
between  the  peoples  of  the  earth ;  and  that  when  they  do  agree 
to  refer  any  case  to  The  Hague  Court  then  it  may  be  assumed 
that  it  is  in  such  form  that  the  winning  or  the  losing  will  not  be 
a  vital  matter  to  either  party. 

Any  attempt  to  make  The  Hague  Court  into  a  higher  tribu- 
nal and  to  give  it  the  right  of  initiative,  or  the  right  of  enforcing 

19 


must  result  in  disaster;  for  an  authority  has  written  this  axiom: 
"Independent  States  can  never  acknowledge  any  international 
control,  other  than  moral,  nor  any  tribunal  which  would  control 
their  sovereign  rights  against  their  will." 


an&  5lto6ernTCon6oit 


LONDON,  November  i,  1904. — One  day  of  sight-seeing 
may  illustrate  partially  two  of  the  many  contrasts  which  can  be 
found  in  this  leviathan  among  cities. 

THE  TEMPLE  GARDENS. 

We  went  into  the  Temple  Gardens,  which  are  very  large 
and  situated  in  the  center  of  this  town  of  5,000,000  inhabitants. 
Here,  according  to  Shakespeare,  were  plucked  the  red  and  white 
roses  which  were  assumed  as  badges  in  the  long  and  bloody  civil 
contest  known  as  the  "War  of  the  Roses."  We  went  into  the 
Temple  Church  and  saw  the  graves  of  the  Knights  Templar, 
which  are  covered  with  slabs  of  dark  marble  carved  into  life- 
size  figures  of  men  in  armor.  Nearby  is  the  grave  of  Oliver  Gold- 
smith. Then  we  went  into  the  two  large  halls  which  are  used 
still  as  dining  halls  by  the  lawyers  who  succeeded  to  the  owner- 
ship of  this  immense  estate  after  the  Knights  were  dissolved  as 
an  order.  It  seems  that  a  client  cannot  employ  a  lawyer  to  con- 
duct his  case  in  courts  which  are  under  the  British  flag.  He  must 
first  go  to  a  solicitor  who  is  not  recognized  as  a  lawyer,  and  the 
solicitor  then  employs  a  barrister,  for  the  barristers  are  the  only 
persons  who  can  conduct  a  trial  in  court.  To  become  a  barrister 
the  student  must  dine  in  one  of  the  halls  of  the  so-called  inns  of 
court  (and  the  Temple  is  such  an  inn)  for  seventy-two  times, 
and  he  cannot  dine  oftener  than  six  times  in  any  term  of  three 
months ;  so  his  attendance  at  dinners  must  extend  over  three 
years  at  least.  The  student  used  to  listen  to  lectures  at  these 
dinners,  and  finally  he  was  called  to  a  bar  which  extended  across 
the  upper  end  of  the  room,  and  if  he  passed  his  examination  he 
was  then  "called  to  the  bar."  The  lectures  and  examinations 
may  now  take  place  elsewhere,  but  the  dinners  go  on,  and  we 
saw  the  servants  laying  the  tables  for  the  lawyers  and  students 
who  may  be  expected  to  attend.  One  of  these  halls  is  very  old. 
The  beautiful  openwork  ceiling  in  old  oak,  and  the  equally  mag- 
nificent carved  screen,  are  finer  than  what  we  have  seen,  although 
we  recently  inspected  some  fine  halls  at  Oxford  and  other  places. 

20 


Here  is  a  table  made  from  one  of  the  ships  of  the  great  Armada, 
'and  at  this  table  Queen  Elizabeth  used  to  sit  when  she  was  enter- 
tained by  Shakespeare's  "Twelfth  Night."  Shakespeare  was 
undoubtedly  present  at  this  representation.  It  is  not  so  certain 
that  she  signed  the  death  warrant  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  upon 
this  table,  but  the  table  is  greatly  treasured,  and  is  covered  with 
a  false  top  of  oak  to  preserve  it  during  its  daily  use. 

MORE  MODERN  THINGS. 

Having  examined  the  portraits  and  coats  of  arms  around 
the  walls,  we  decided  to  turn  from  ancient  London  to  more  mod- 
ern things,  and  as  a  preparation  we  walked  outside  the  precincts 
of  the  Temple  and  mounted  some  queer  steps  into  a  smaller  hall, 
where  we  soon  had  some  tender  slices  off  the  joints,  potatoes, 
onions,  bitter  beer  and  "cold  sweets,"  the  latter  being  tarts  and 
things.  The  bill  was  four  and  thrippence,  and  we  added  a  six- 
pence for  the  waiter  and  thrippence  to  the  barmaid,  which  is  a 
total  five  bob — five  bob^calls  for  a  crown,  and  a  crown  is  about 
$1.25.  So  you  see  we  had  substantial  reasons  for  feeling  refreshed. 

THE  DOCKS. 

Then  we  started  for  the  docks,  feeling  happy  not  only  for 
the  reasons  stated,  but  also  because  the  sun  was  shining,  and 
that  is  a  great  treat  at  this  time  of  the  year  over  here. 

At  the  docks  one  of  the  unemployed  took  us  in  hand  and 
showed  us  the  lines  of  ships  and  steamers  which  lie  in  these 
large  basins.  He  growled  when  he  saw  the  lascars  on  an  East 
Indian  and  said:  "They  give  those  blacks  each  month  a  pound 
sterling  and  some  rice,  while  they  would  have  to  give  a  white 
man  four  pounds  and  meat."  Then  he  took  us  past  an  old  hulk 
which  is  used  as  a  training  ship  for  the  navy,  and  we  sorrowfully 
gazed  at  the  old  wooden  figurehead  upon  its  bow.  It  was  that 
captured  by  the  British  from  the  Americans,  and  the  hulk  (since 
renewed)  was  then  and  is  now  called  the  President. 

THE  THAMES. 

Then  we  came  to  the  Thames,  and  the  gates  which  open  at 
high  tide  to  allow  vessels  to  pass.  There  is  a  rise  of  tide  here 
of  twenty  feet  or  more,  and  so  one  can  understand  why  London 
has  spent  hundreds  of  millions  on  these  docks,  which  cover  900 
acres.  At  this  point  the  river  is  wide  and  deep,  but  idle  steamers 
were  anchored  in  tiers  in  midstream,  while  the  busy  ones  in 
great  numbers  steamed  on  either  side.  While  we  thought  this 
a  very  fine  sight,  yet  our  volunteer  guide  had  a  better  one  close 
by.  He  took  us  down  a  pit  about  a  hundred  feet  in  diameter 
and  lined  with  white  tiles.  We  went  down  a  fine  stairway  for 
a  depth  of  a  hundred  feet  and  found  ourselves  in  the  recently 
built  Blackwall  Tunnel,  whose  top  at  one  point  is  only  six  feet 
below  the  bed  of  the  Thames.  It  contains  a  roadway  for  two 

21 


wagons  and  a  narrow  walk  on  each  side  and  is  a  mile  long.  It 
is  lined  with  clean,  white  glazed  tiles,  and  there  are  three  electric 
lights  to  every  thirty  feet.  The  busses  and  wagops  thunder  along 
this  tube,  which  glitters  with  light  from  end  to  end,  and  we  imme- 
diately voted  this  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  sights  pf  the  world. 
We  mounted  a  bus  and  rode  through  and  back. 

ENGLISH  PEOPLE  POOR. 

There  are  40,000,000  people  in  this  country,  and  half  of  them 
are  very  poor.  Without  foreign  commerce  England  could  not 
support  the  richer  half,  but  might  find  food  for  the  poorer  half; 
therefore  I  think  that  the  time  is  not  far  off  when  every  young 
man  will  be  drawn  by  conscription  in  England  (as  they  do  jt 
in  Germany  and  France)  to  serve  his  year  in  the  ranks.  Probably 
the  service  will  he  mainly  in  the  navy,  for  England's  supremacy 
is  gone  as  soon  as  the  war  vessels  of  any  two  other  nations  shall 
excel  hers  in  strength.  Her  navy  to  her  is  like  the  mast  which 
sends  the  spark  out  at  the  Marconi,  or  wireless  telegraph,  the 
higher  the  mast  the  farther  will  go  the  message,  and  England's 
message  must  go  around  the  world  with  the  sun  each  day  and 
be  respected,  otherwise  her  power  and  glory  will  depart  forever. 

These  folks  will  enforce  conscription  as  soon  as  they  see  its 
necessity;  their  Parliament  has  immense  power;  when  a  law  is 
duly  passed  and  signed  then  no  court  can  delay  or  stop  it,  unless 
it  be  to  make  it  intelligible  and  stronger. 

MILLIONAIRES  TAXED. 

As  an  example  of  what  they  do  here  permit  me  to  remind 
you  that  Harcourt  passed  a  law  which  taxes  the  estates  of  a 
multi-millionaire  8  per  cent,  and  this  tax  now  supplies  one-tenth 
of  the  revenue  of  the  kingdom.  The  tax  is  levied  upon  all  estates 
in  the  ratio  of  a  sliding  scale,  say  I  per  cent  upon  $1000  and  8 
per  cent  upon  $5,000,000.  The  tax  is  levied  not  only  upon  all 
the  property  owned  by  decedent  at  the  time  of  his  death,  but 
also  upon  whatever  he  may  have  given  away  within  twelve 
months  prior  to  death,  and  the  tax  is  also  levied  upon  any  prop- 
erty wherein  he  retained  an  interest  for  himself.  The  rich  do 
not  like  it,  and  the  poor  do  like  it,  but  it  will  stand,  and  it  will 
never  be  repealed.  There  have  been  cases  where  the  same  prop- 
erty was  taxed  three  times  in  six  years',  because  three  men  died 
in  that  time,  and  thus  24  per  cent  was  taken  out  of  the  property 
within  six  years ;  but  that  danger  is  now  usually  covered  by  life 
insuring. 

It  is  said  that  Harcourt  was  a  poor  man,  but  became  very 
rich  by  reason  of  several  deaths  in  his  family  and  by  his  inher- 
iting what  they  left. 

It  is  .also  said  that  his  last  days  were  occupied  in  seeking 
ways  to  evade  his  own  act.  If  this  is  true,  then  the  majority 
of  the  people,  being  poor,  will  say  that  the  taxation  of  estates 
should  continue. 

22 


PARIS,  December  13,  1904. — Joan  of  Arc  was  a  country 
lass  in  the  olden  time,  and  became  an  enthusiast  (or  a  fanatic) 
because  the  English  were  holding  a  large  portion  of  France. 
Whether  she  was  sane  or  insane  is  immaterial;  she  prayed  and 
she  worked  for  duty's  sake.  She  put  on  armor  and  led  warriors 
to  victory;  she  was  wounded  in  battle,  and  she  was  seized  by 
the  English,  and  with  their  connivance  she  was  tried  as  a  witch 
and  burned  to  death.  To-day  three  statues  in  Paris,  represent- 
ing her  on  horseback,  only  faintly  describe  the  sentiments  of  the 
French  to  her  memory.  They  are  warlike,  chivalrous  and  excit- 
able ;  hence  there  have  been  several  weeks  of  excitement  in  the 
streets,  for  a  teacher  in  one  of  the  large  schools  was  thought  to 
have  spoken  slightingly  of  her  record  to  his  class  in  history,  and 
then  the  trouble  began.  The  students  organized  parades  and  took 
garlands  to  the  statues  and  shouted:  "Let  us  spit  on  Professor 
Thalamas!" 

Professor  Thalamas  tried  to  explain,  but  no  one  would  listen 
to  him.  It  was  dull  times,  anyway.  The  circus  had  not  been 
through  the  streets  for  months  and  the  boys  needed  a  little  ex- 
citement, and  so  for  many  days  they  have  paraded  and  shouted. 
It  is  very  interesting  to  see  how  such  little  mobs  are  handled 
here  so  that  they  shall  not  become  too  large  and  dangerous. 

Paris  has  a  large  body  of  policemen  dressed  in  blue  and  wear- 
ing swords  and  capes.  They  never  draw  the  swords,  and  they 
never  lay  off  the  capes.  Moreover,  the  nation  maintains  a  large 
body  of  gendarmes,  who  are  armed  as  soldiers  and  distributed 
all  over  the  country,  with  a  large  body  in  this  city.  These  guard 
the  national  courts,  parks,  palaces  and  theaters.  In  reserve  are 
the  regiments  of  soldiers,  some  inside  the  city  and  many  in  "the 
forts  around  Paris. 

Every  clay  we  walk  to  the  little  square  near  the  Tuilleries, 
where  is  a  fine  equestrial  statue  of  Jeanne  d'Arc,  and  find  the 
policemen  in  groups  around  it  and  perhaps  some  gendarmes  near 
by  with  stacked  guns.  Along  come  the  schoolboys  with  some 
men  as  leaders.  They  shout  and  sing  and  march  and  bear  beauti- 

23 


ful  wreaths,  which  the  police  gravely  allow  them  to  put  upon 
the  ornamental  hooks  placed  for  this  purpose  around  the  pedestal ; 
then  the  fun  begins.  The  police  say,  "Passez  Messieurs,"  and 
if  the  men  pass  on  they  divide  them  and  divert  them  into  differ- 
ent streets ;  if  they  stop  they  are  politely  arrested ;  and  the  aver- 
age Frenchman  is  only  too  proud  to  be  arrested  when  he  is  pub- 
licly doing  homage  to  a  heroine;  so  there  is  a  mutual  touching 
of  hats  and  expressions  of  regret,  and  the  law  escorts  the  law- 
breaker to  the  station,  where  he  is  politely  detained  until  dinner 
time,  when  he  is  dismissed  so  that  he  can  go  home  and  brag  of 
his  gallant  devotion  to  the  honor  of  France. 

However,  the  rains  began  to-day  and  this  excitement  will 
stop  for  glory  was  never  gained  under  umbrellas.  France  is  a 
prosperous  nation  and  ahead  of  us  in  some  respects,  as  I  may 
try  to  show  some  other  day ;  and  the  present  form  of  government 
has  lasted  longer  than  anything  they  have  had  since  the  days 
of  Louis  XVI  and  the  Revolution.  The  President  is  elected  for 
a  term  of  seven  years  and  has  little  direct  power  in  politics,  for 
the  system  is  like  that  in  England,  where  the  Prime  Ministers 
manage  the  country  so  long  as  they  can  have  a  majority  in  Con- 
gress. And  when  they  are  outvoted  they  resign.  In  France  the 
Ministry  has  been  changed  every  nine  or  ten  months.  This  sys- 
tem is  likely  to  last  a  long  time,  for  the  chief  ruler  is  quiescent 
until  internal  disorder  occurs,  and  then  he  has  the  army  and  the 
police,  and  the  taxpayers  behind  him,  and  nearly  everybody  is 
taxed  here. 

Looking  out  of  our  window  we  see  across  the  street  a  large 
room  filled  with  girls  making  bonnets,  and  they  work  until  late 
hours  at  night  very  often.  The  other  day  we  saw  that  the  table 
was  covered  with  cake  and  wine,  and  the  girls  wore  gala  dresses 
and  picture  hats.  As  the  whole  town  seemed  to  be  quiet  and  tak- 
ing a  rest  (except  the  flower  sellers,  who  were  doing  a  large  busi- 
ness) we  began  to  inquire,  and  found  it  was  St.  Catherine's  Day. 
We  had  seen  a  copy  of  the  picture  of  this  saint  in  the  act  of  plac- 
ing a  ring  on  the  finger  of  the  Holy  Infant  and  thereby  vowing 
to  forego  any  other  marriage  ceremony,  and  in  her  honor  all 
single  women  in  France  keep  that  day  as  a  feast  day.  We  see 
many  of  these  women  and  girls  on  the  streets  at  the  noon  hour, 
and  they  look  neat,  wholesome  and  tidy  and  so  deserving  of  re- 
spect that  we  hope  and  believe  they  will  all  get  good  husbands 
within  the  year,  even  if  they  have  to  break  vows  of  celibacy, 
and  they  will  do  it,  for  old  maids  are  not  popular  here. 

We  see  many  small  children  in  the  magnificent  parks,  and 
especially  in  that  wonderful  stretch  from  the  Louvre  to  the  Arc 
de  TEtoile — over  a  mile  of  open  space,  without  its  equal  in  the 
world,  and  the  children  seem  to  be  deeply  interested  in  the  shops 
just  now,  as  well  as  their  mothers.  The  latter  pause  before  the 
jewelers,  who  are  more  numerous  than  the  imps  in  Inferno,  and, 
moreover,  more  ingenious  and  tempting;  or  the  mothers  will 
look  into  the  flower  stores,  which  display  quantities  and  varieties 

24 


from  the  Mediterranean  and  elsewhere  not  to  be  excelled  even 
in  California. 

But  the  children  gaze  into  the  toy  shops,  which  are  full  of 
all  the  things  the  Yankees  have  seen  and  of  many  things  whicli 
have  not  yet  crossed  the  Atlantic. 

There  are  dolls,  of  course,  without  number,  and  each  dressed 
in  perfect  Parisan  taste,  and,  what  is  more  important,  each  doll 
has  a  pretty  face  and  eyes  which  look  at  you  as  if  they  loved  you. 
The  sidewalks  are  blocked  in  some  places  with  those  who  sell 
and  buy  the  tin  wagons  and  bears  which  are  wound  up  and  go 
of  themselves  around  in  a  circle. 

My  old  favorite  is  here ;  the  clown  in  a  cart,  and  the  donkey 
races  forward  and  rushes  backward  and  kicks  up  on  the  sidewalks 
of  Paris  just  as  he  did  in  Sacramento.  Then  there  is  a  tin  fire- 
man who  is  tickled  with  a  key  which  is  put  into  his  shoulder 
until  his  insides  rattle,  and  then  he  is  put  on  a  tin  ladder  and 
raises  his  hands  and  legs  alternately  and  climbs  the  ladder  all 
alone. 

I  have  bought  my  own  toy  and  shall  play  with  it  on  the 
smooth  pavement  in  Sacramento,  say  at  the  corner  of  Tenth  and 
N  streets.  It  is  a  wooden  top  and  a  little  whip ;  one  must  whip 
the  top  until  it  spins  and  keep  whipping  it  to  keep  it  spinning, 
and  one  can  drive  it  around  Capital  Park  without  stopping. 
There  are  thousands  of  little  boys  and  girls  whipping  those  tops 
in  Paris  now,  but  they  only  talk  French,  and  I  prefer  to  whip 
my  top  where  the  children  talk  English. 


Scenes  ,-About  "parts 


PARIS,  November  23,  1904. — We  selected  a  bright  day  for 
our  excursion  to  Chantilly,  which  is  about  an  hour's  ride  to  the 
northward. 

The  little  town  is  long,  narrow  and  ancient ;  from  the  station 
we  walked  nearly  two  miles  to  the  end  which  is  nearest  the  cele- 
brated chateau;  and  that  end  is  hidden  from  those  in  the  palace 
by  a  handsome  gateway  and  stone  structure  of  great  size,  which 
was  once  used  for  the  300  horses  maintained  by  the  Condes. 
Going  through  this  gateway  we  looked  down  upon  a  large  circu- 
lar valley  surrounded  by  parks  and  forests,  while  across  its  center 
ran  the  river,  leaving  an  island  upon  which  the  triangular  chateau 
had  been  built.  The  banks  which  held  these  waters  were  lined 
with  good  stone  walls  of  regular  outline.  From  the  chateau  one 

25 


could  see  nothing  but  lawns,  forest  and  the  palatial  stable  behind 
which  hid  the  village. 

The  chateau  itself  is  one  of  the  most  noted  structures  and 
of  great  beauty,  but  at  this  season  of  the  year  we  could  only  look 
through  the  large  gates  at  the  stone  bridge;  for  we  were  not 
allowed  to  enter  and  inspect  the  interior,  which  is  said  to  include 
some  very  fine  pictures  and  decorations:  so  we  walked  back  to 
the  station,  through  the  forest,  and  stopped  on  the  way  to  inspect 
the  fine  green  turf  and  grandstands  which  are  used  at  the  fash- 
ionable races  of  running  horses. 

While  Versailles  excels  all  other  places  for  its  magnificent 
size,  yet  Chantilly  excels  all  other  places  for  its  architectural 
beauty.  So  far  as  the  interiors  are  concerned  there  is  another 
story  to  be  told,  and  that  is  called  Fontainebleau. 

The  next  day  we  rode  two  hours  southward  to  Fontainebleau 
and  compared  its  internal  furnishing  with  that  of  Windsor  Castle 
and  finally  gave  our  preference  to  the  place  where  Napoleon 
signed  his  abdication  and  bade  farewell  to  the  grand  army.  Here 
are  carpets  which  cost  $50,000  each,  and  ceilings  and  walls  and 
floors  which  cost  even  more,  all  recording  in  some  way  the  mon- 
archs  and  Popes  who  lived  here. 

There  is  a  large  forest  around  Fontainebleau  which  is  well 
supplied  with  fine  roads,  but  the  day  was  so  cold  and  dark  that 
two  hours'  driving  through  it  was  quite  enough.  Another  miss 
was  in  store  for  us,  for  we  failed  to  see  the  hunt  which  was  in 
progress  wherein  a  deer  was  chased  by  horsemen  who  wore  the 
costumes  of  200  years  ago ;  and  the  deer  finally  ran  into  the  town 
and  up  to  the  gates  of  the  palace.  What  happened  to  him  there 
we  do  not  know;  probably  he  was  captured  and  spared  for  an- 
other run,  much  like  the  bronze  ox  on  the  monument  to  Rosa 
Bonheur  at  the  same  gate.  One  who  toiled  for  man  when  alive 
and  was  eaten  by  man  when  dead. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  became  weary  of  the  habitation 
of  royal  ghosts  and  rambled  through  the  little  town  to  a  modest 
home  where  we  hoped  to  find  real  live  American  sovereigns. 
We 'were  taken  into  a  warm  little  studio,  where  the  lady  laid 
down  her  pen  and  the  man  dropped  his  brush  and  both  rose  to 
give  us  a  hearty  welcome. 

There  was  no  ancient  history  or  art  or  anything  foreign  in 
our  talk.  We  had  tea  and  cookies ;  we  chatted  of  home,  of  Cali- 
fornia, of  mutual  friends  and  of  sorrows  and  pleasures. 

It  was  nightfall  before  we  left  the  Peixotto  house  and  took 
our  seats  in  the  compartment  of  the  train  for  Paris,  but  we  had 
enjoyed  our  day ;  we  had  lived  amid  the  royal  past ;  we  had  sym- 
pathized with  the  young  hope  of  our  own  land ;  had  been  enter- 
tained in  our  own  tongue;  our  feet  rested  on  metal  boxes  which 
held  hot  water.  We  were  alone  in  our  compartment,  and  so  we 
sat  hand  in  hand,  gazing  upon  the  many  lights  as  we  re-entered 
Paris,  more  happy  than  were  some  of  the  great  who  wore  crowns 
when  they  entered. 

26 


Ifow  He  Spent  IKis 


PARIS,  January  20,  1905. — Yesterday  was  a  peculiar  day 
for  your  servant,  who  had  one  of  his  annual  attacks  of  the  same 
disease  which  has  carried  off  all  his  predecessors.  It  was  his 
birthday,  and  all  his  ancestors  have  suffered  and  finally  died 
because  of  the  regular  recurrence  of  birthdays.  His  progenitors, 
Adam  and  Eve,  and  especially  Methuselah,  had  chronic  attacks. 
There  is  no  cure.  The  locality  of  Paris  has  a  singular  effect  on 
the  disease,  for  good  Americans  see  Paris  and  die,  and  therefore 
Americans  are  not  very  good  while  here  and  they  live;  indeed, 
they  live  and  look  alive,  too!  It  is  a  merry  life,  and  when  they 
get  too  old  to  enjoy  it,  then  they  become  good  and  they  die,  and 
they  are  taken  to  Pire  la  Chaise,  where  they  are  put  in  little  stone 
houses  on  which  are  cut  these  words,  "Concession  a  perpetuite," 
and  wreaths  of  immortelles  are  put  thereon,  and  the  wreaths  are 
made  of  yellow  porcelain,  and  they  also  put  thereon  designs  of 
flowers  made  with  wire  and  colored  glass  beads,  all  in  the  desire 
to  perpetuate  the  individual. 

THE  GREAT  MAJORITY. 

As  the  number  of  the  residents  in  the  cemeteries  now  greatly 
exceeds  the  number  of  those  who  walk  the  streets  the  necessity 
has  come  for  cremation,  as  everywhere  else,  and  now  some  rise 
to  heaven  in  clouds  of  vapor  and  smoke,  and  will  escape  the  fate 
of  the  others,  which  will  be  that  of  being  exhibited  in  museums 
500  years  hence,  just  as  they  are  now  showing  the  mummies  of 
Rameses,  Psammetichus  and  others  of  the  Egyptian  branch  of 
our  family. 

So,  my  birthday  arrived  yesterday,  and  it  began  with  a  slight 
twinge  of  rheumatism  and  a  look  at  my  gray  hairs  in  the  glass 
and  a  cleansing  for  my  spectacles,  all  of  which  I  tried  to  forget 
while  taking  my  coffee  and  reading  the  Paris  edition  of  the 
Herald. 

27 


PARIS  MODELS. 

My  companion,  a  philosophian,  had  planned  a  series  of 
events ;  so  we  turned  into  the  Place  Vendome  and  went  through 
the  Jardin  des  Tuilleries,  and  across  the  river  to  a  studio  for  both 
sexes,  in  front  of  which  was  gathered  a  great  mob  of  men,  women 
and  children,  who  sought  to  be  employed  as  models  by  the  artists. 
With  long  hair  and  curious  costumes  they  were  ready  to  pose 
by  the  hour  for  small  pay,  and  certain  well-built  persons  would 
stand  for  the  life  classes  in  no  costume  at  all,  but  outsiders  are 
not  allowed  to  see  that  branch  of  the  business. 

However,  we  have  seen  many  drawings,  paintings  and  stat- 
ues from  the  nude,  and  we  continually  compare  them  with  the 
oldest  statutary  in  the  Louvre,  and  wonder  at  the  constant  supe- 
riority of  the  ancients  over  the  moderns.  How  did  they  do  it? 

Perhaps  they  got  a  slave  and  buried  him  (or  her)  alive  in 
a  grave  of  wet  plaster ;  thereafter  they  cut  into  parts  the  mould, 
discarded  the  dead  corpse  and  cast  a  new  model  in  plaster,  from 
which  they  leisurely  measured  and  cut  the  existing  marble;  cer- 
tainly it  seems  impossible  that  a  living  model  could  be  replaced 
day  after  day  in  the  same  position  exactly  until  these  great  works 
of  art  were  finished. 

AN  INTERESTING  CAFE. 

Our  next  visit  that  day  was  to  a  little  street  nearby,  which 
is  not  named  even  in  Baedeker's  Guidebook  and  Maps,  to  search 
for  the  little  cafe  ten  feet  wide;  we  entered  and  passed  through 
into  the  former  courtyard  now  converted  into  a  small  room ; 
and  there  we  lunched  while  studying  the  frescoes  around  the 
walls,  which  Miss  Lundburg  and'  others  have  drawn  there  to 
show  how  "Jack  the  Knave  of  Hearts  Stole  Some  Tarts." 

THE  LATIN  QUARTER. 

Then  we  made  some  calls  in  the  rest  of  this  part  of  Paris, 
the  Latin  quarter,  for  all  our  friends  are  here,  and  we  exchange 
frequent  visits. 

We  know  the  Sorbonne  and  the  frescoes  of  Chavannes,  the 
church  with  the  tomb  of  Richelieu,  the  Cluny,  the  Luxembourg, 
the  statue  of  Ney,  where  he  was  shot,  the  Odeon,  and  the  con- 
cert Rouge.  We  know  a  large  studio  which  is  quite  a  center  for 
California  ladies  and  men  for  teas;  we  know  the  Home  for 
American  Girl  Students,  where  we  have  had  a  cup  of  tea,  which 
is  daily  offered  there  to  all  callers  by  the  hospitality  of  Mrs. 
Whitelaw  Reid ;  we  know  the  club  for  American  men  nearby  and 
have  attended  its  receptions.  Really,  the  Latin  quarter  seems 
more  respectable,  more  virtuous  and  more  industrious  than  the 
other  (the  right)  side  of  the  Seine,  on  which  stand  the  hotels, 
shops,  theaters,  parks  and  the  homes  of  the  fashionable  and  the 
tourists. 

28 


THE     RETURN     HOME. 

Returning  to  our  comfortable  parlor  and  fire  in  our  hotel  we 
had  tea  at  five  o'clock  in  company  with  two  callers ;  one  was  the 
professor,  the  other  was  Henri.  The  latter  is  a  fine  young 
Frenchman,  whose  family  live  in  good  style  near  the  Champs 
Elysees.  He  has  served  his  time  in  the  army,  as  all  the  young 
men  do  when  they  are  drawn  in  the  conscription.  After  tea  we 
all  walked  through  the  lighted  streets  on  our  way  to  see  the 
skating  at  the  Palais  de  Glace,  passing  the  gates  of  the  Garden  of 
the  Tuilleries  at  6  o'clock,  just  as  the  drummer  began  to  beat  the 
signal  for  closing  for  the  night. 

A    FRENCHMAN'S    STORY. 

The  Professor  told  of  a  recently  published  story  about  the 
discontented  conscript  drummer  who  was  tempted  to  desert,  but 
he  saw  Napoleon  (in  a  vision),  and  then  marched  along  in  the 
twilight  beating  his  drum  like  a  good  soldier.  Then  Henri  said 
that  he  had  served  as  drummer  there,  too,  and  it  was  very  un- 
pleasant to  stand  at  the  gates  on  a  wet  winter's  night  (waiting 
for  the  clock)  and  looking  toward  his  father's  home,  so  near  and 
yet  so  far.  The  philosopher  asked  him  if  he  saw  Bonaparte,  too, 
in  a  vision,  and  Henri  answered  that  he  did  not ;  but  on  one  such 
despondent  occasion  he  did  recollect  the  words  of  the  French 
General  who,  dying  in  battle,  said  that  he  regretted  that  he  had 
not  done  more  for  France. 

The  Professor  remarked  that  the  Egyptian  obelisk  nearby 
was  over  3000  years  old,  and  that  many  generations  of  soldiers 
had  lived  and  died  around  it,  and  that  the  world  was  not  much 
better  now  than  when  the  stonecutters,  at  the  time  of  getting  out 
that  obelisk,  had  made  a  strike  for  more  food  and  higher  wages. 

THE     RICHEST     STREET     IN     THE     WORLD. 

The  philosopher,  to  change  the  subject,  said  that  men  and 
women  wore  better  clothing  now  than  then,  and  more  of  it,  and 
that  we  must  hurry  on  to  the  rink,  where  the  latest  was  to  be 
seen.  Here,  let  me  tell  you,  that  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  (near  our 
hotel)  is  the  shortest  and  richest  street  in  the  world. 

When  we  went  into  the  huge  skating  rink  there  were  seen 
black  and  white  silk  jupars,  but  nothing  very  enchanting.  On 
the  artificial  ice  the  skaters  waltzed  and  raced  to  the  music  of  a 
big  band,  while  the  crowd  sat  around  at  little  tables  or  gambled 
and  drank  in  adjoining  halls.  I  got  a  good  front  seat,  wiped  my 
specs  and  kept  my  eyes  on  a  tall  and  pretty  damsel  from  one  of 
the  theaters,  who  was  a  very  graceful  skater,  and  who  was 
dressed  in  artistic  manner.  The  philosopher  and  the  Professor 
and  Henri  all  agreed  with  me  as  to  that.  Round  and  round 
glided  the  pretty  girls  from  the  Opera  Comique  and  the  Folies 
Bergers,  and  really  the  sight  was  worth  the  one  dollar  each 
which  it  cost  for  admission. 

29 


After  a  little  out  came  the  prettiest  girl  of  the  crowd  wearing 
a  pink  jacket  and  the  yellow  petticoat  from  the  Rue  de  la  Paix. 
She  was  taking  almost  anyone  as  partner  and  teaching  them  to 
skate.  Old  men  and  young  men,  but  when  I  thought  of  getting 
some  skates  I  found  that  the  cold  had  brought  on  my  rheumatism, 
and  so  went  back  to  our  hotel  and  the  good  fire  and  had  a  com- 
fortable dinner  and  smoked  cigars  through  the  evening.  All  of 
which  the  philosopher  says  is  better  for  me  than  skating.  The 
philosopher  is  my  wife  and  of  course  there  is  nothing  more  to 
be  said. 

The  Professor  asked  Henri  if  the  taxes  were  not  heavy  in 
France  and  the  public  debt  very  large  and  increasing  yearly. 
Henri  said  that  was  the  situation  and  that  bonds  should  not  be 
issued  where  the  payment  of  the  principal  was  to  be  put  off  for 
fifty  years;  rather  the  bonds  should  be  in  the  form  of  annuities 
and  2  per  cent  of  the  principal  should  be  paid  every  year.  I  as- 
sented with  the  remark  that  men  come  and  go,  but  interest  rolls 
on  forever. 

The  philosopher  remarked  that  when  all  the  birthdays  are 
clipped  from  a  man  then  he  disappears  like  the  smoke,  but  when 
all  the  coupons  are  clipped  from  a  bond  the  principal  is  just  as  big 
and  just  as  much  alive  as  ever. 

The  Professor  closed  the  debate  with  the  statement  that  old 
obelisks  have  been  transported  to  Rome,  Paris,  London  and  New 
York ;  they  have  seen  peoples  and  bonds  accumulated  and  disap- 
pear for  thousands  of  years,  and  they  will  doubtless  see  the  pro- 
cess repeated  for  thousands  of  years  to  come. 


Visit  to  "3loUan6 


AMSTERDAM  (Holland),  September  12,  1904.— It  takes 
but  a  little  time  to  descend  from  the  peak  of  the  Jungfrau  which  is 
14,000  feet  above  the  sea  level  and  situated  in  Switzerland,  and 
come  down  into  the  lowlands  of  Holland  (all  of  these  being  ten 
feet  below  the  sea  level)  and  gaze  upon  the  head  of  the  Mejuf- 
frouw.  The  Jungfrau  has  a  snowy  cap  and  a  lifeless  expression ; 
the  Mejuftrouw  is  sixteen  years  old  and  wears  a  helmet  of  thin 
gold  and  silver  and  over  that  she  wears  a  white  cap ;  her  expres- 
sion is  charming;  her  dress  is  peculiar  and  variegated,  and  she 
wears  wooden  shoes. 

We  took  a  "stoomboot"  to  an  inland  which  is  not  protected 
by  levees  and  which  is  flooded  in  Winter;  the  houses  stand  on 
piles  like  those  along  the  Sacramento  River,  but  each  house  must 
have  a  cistern  to  maintain  a  supply  of  rain  water. 

The  little  harbor  was  filled  with  the  sturdy  fishing  sloops, 

30 


which  seem  to  be  built  of  very  thick  planks.  The  forward  half 
is  decked  over  so  that  one  can  live  in  any  sea ;  there  are  two  bilge 
keels  shod  with  iron,  which  are  runners  on  which  to  haul  the 
boat  over  land  and  ice.  The  ancestors  of  these  people  caught 
whales  and  fought  other  prehistoric  fishes  on  the  Norwegian  and 
Scottish  coasts  long  ago.  At  the  landing  we  were  met  by  a  mob 
of  boys  and  girls  and  a  battery  of  kodaks  was  opened  on  them ; 
instantly  they  grouped  themselves  together  and  stood  still  while 
one  of  the  girls  acted  as  agent  to  collect  from  each  camera  a  tax 
for  the  whole  group. 

We  went  into  one  of  the  houses  and  found  it  belonged  to  a 
widow  who  had  nine  children  and  100  delft  plates  (none  of  either 
for  sale).  She  showed  us  a  box  in  the  wall  which  was  closed  by 
a  slide  and  which  was  her  bed ;  in  the  end  was  a  little  box  wherein 
she  always  had  the  youngest  at  night.  As  soon  as  the  girls  are 
16  they  are  allowed  to  wear  a  long  flaxen  curl  to  hang  down  in 
front  of  each  ear  and  to  talk  to  the  young  men  who  wear  little 
caps  and  jerseys  and  breeches,  cut  a  la  pantalette. 

Canals  are  here  more  numerous  than  roads  and  footpaths  in 
California  and  windmills  than  ginmills.  The  land  is  drained  so 
that  it  is  about  two  feet  above  the  water  and  the  water  is  led  to 
places  where  the  pumps  will  lift  it  into  other  canals  and  to  other 
pumps  which  lift  it  into  the  ocean.  Boats  of  all  kinds  traverse 
these  canals  and  locks  are  numerous. 

In  the  churches  a  little  box  is  placed  under  one's  feet  and  in 
the  box  is  a  porcelain  bowl  to  hold  the  red-hot  lumps  of  peat. 
Then  they  have  copper  pans  with  covers  and  long  handles ;  into 
the  pans  they  put  more  coals  of  peat ;  and  so  they  iron  the  sheets 
of  the  bed  just  before  retiring  for  the  night.  Many  of  the  houses 
and  windmills  are  beautifully  thatched ;  the  surface  is  smooth  and 
of  dark  color ;  of  course,  the  pitch  of  the  roof  is  quite  steep.  The 
farm  houses  are  large  and  square ;  when  you  enter  one  you  find 
that  the  family  occupies  only  the  front  end,  the  rest  of  it  is  the 
dairy  and  barn.  There  will  be  a  huge  stack  of  hay  in  the  center 
reaching  up  to  the  high  ridge  pole.  As  the  cows  are  not  brought 
in  until  Winter,  the  stalls  are  scrubbed  and  painted  and  the  floor 
covered  with  sawdust  laid  off  in  piecrust  patterns.  They  put  the 
milk  in  a  large  kettle,  pour  in  some  rennet,  take  out  the  clotted 
cheese,  work  it  into  cannon  balls,  press  these  in  moulds.  The 
same  day  they  are  put  in  salt  for  a  few  days  and  then  they  are 
ready  to  be  sent  to  any  part  of  the  world.  A  fresh  cannonball 
may  be  put  into  a  rope  bag  and  to  that  some  weights  are  attached 
at  each  end,  and  then  you  have  a  pineapple  cheese.  The  fields 
are  all  green  and  devoted  to  pasture;  the  cattle  are  black  and 
white.  Certainly  the  Dutch  convert  their  crops  of  grass  into 
cheese,  butter  and  meat  in  the  simplest  and  quickest  manner,  and 
have  superb  markets  and  great  facilities  for  exporting. 

The  Panama  Canal  will  increase  the  shipping  of  dairy  pro- 
ducts from  the  Sacramento  Valley  without  doubt. 

31 


The  value  of  these  lands  and  the  profit  to  the  farmers  is  be- 
yond my  power  to  ascertain,  for  lack  of  time  and  language.  I 
think  the  encyclopedias  will  give  the  information  in  English. 

Have  spent  one  day  at  the  northern  end  of  Holland  where 
there  is  a  navy  yard  and  a  fortified  town  and  where  that  section 
of  the  Atlantic  known  as  the  North  Sea  pounds  on  the  immense 
walls  which  keep  the  salt  water  from  flooding  many  miles  of  fer- 
tile lands.  The  dyke  is  about  200  feet  wide  and  is  paved  with 
granite  blocks  from  Norway;  the  lower  edge  is  always  washed 
by  the  waves  and  when  storms  come  then  the  foam  rushes  nearly 
to  the  crest  trying  to  creep  over  this  wall  where,  twenty  feet  be- 
low, is  a  town  of  25,000  people.  Napoleon  built  the  forts  and  the 
dyke,  telling  those  who  said  that  it  could  not  be  done  that  some 
one  would  hang  if  it  were  not  done.  So  they  put  to  work  thou- 
sands of  prisoners  of  war  from  Spain  and  there  the  French  and 
Dutch  fought  battles  against  the  English  and  Russians  until  the 
work  was  done.  Several  hundred  years  ago  great  naval  engage- 
ments took  place  off  this  coast. 

Germany  would  give  millions  of  marks  and  thousands  of 
lives  to  possess  this  harbor  and  the  little  naval  squadron  which 
I  saw  there  could  not  withstand  such  an  assault ;  but  any  attempt 
of  that  kind  would  involve  the  whole  of  Europe  in  a  dreadful  war. 

People  here  live  and  die  by  their  levees;  they  build  the  base 
to  last  forever,  and  they  are  eternally  guarding  and  increasing 
these  permanent  factors  without  which  Holland  would  become,  as 
before,  only  a  swimming  basin  for  the  fishes. 


cm6 


PARIS,  February,  1905.  —  My  visits  to  the  different  museums 
have  always  included  stops  in  front  of  cases  which  contain  little 
rolls  of  unbaked  clay,  each  of  which  are  nearly  of  the  size  and 
shape  of  cakes  of  toilet  soap.  It  seems  that  the  ancients  did  not 
have  typewriters,  nor  stationery  and  yet  they  did  business  very 
much  as  we  do  now  and  at  the  same  rates  of  interest. 

In  order  to  keep  records  of  their  loans  and  titles  they  would 
print  upon  wet  lumps  of  clay  the  letters  and  signs  which  in  their 
language  would  record  the  transaction  ;  then  the  lumps  would  be 
baked  in  the  hot  sunshine  and  stored  away  either  in  the  house 
of  the  capitalist  or  in  some  public  recorder's  office. 

The  rich  man  made  a  visible  pile  of  assets  in  those  days,  and 
it  is  possible  that  he  had  the  right  to  cancel  an  insolvent  loan  by 
throwing  the  recording  clay  at  the  head  of  the  defaulting  debtor, 
and  in  this  way  may  have  arisen  the  custom  of  throwing  stones 

32 


which  is  prevalent  until  this  day  at  certain  times  between  capital 
and  labor. 

The  modern  system  is  more  elaborate  and  would  require 
volumes  for  its  description,  therefore  let  me  only  describe  how  I 
took  my  leave  from  my  banker  in  Paris  and  stop  at  that. 

The  Credit  Lyonnais  occupies  an  entire  block  on  the  principal 
boulevard  and  is  four  stories  above  the  street  level,  and  has  four 
floors  below  the  street  level.  Your  trunk  will  be  taken  by  this 
bank  when  you  arrive  in  Paris  from  the  railway,  or  hotel,  passed 
through  the  customhouse  if  required,  to  the  vaults  of  the  bank, 
for  50  cents;  the  storage  is  50  cents  per  month. 

When  you  wish  money  upon  your  letter  of  credit  you  go 
up  to  the  second  floor  where  there  are  several  fine  parlors  for  your 
accommodation,  and  porters  and  messengers  in  uniform  will  take 
your  signature  and  bring  you  the  money.  At  the  time  of  my 
visit  I  asked  for  paper  money,  half  to  be  in  French  and  half  in 
English  notes,  whereupon  the  clerk  asked  if  I  were  leaving  Paris 
and  begged  me  to  accept  the  use  of  a  box  at  the  Opera  Comique 
for  Friday  night. 

This  bank  doubtless  rents  a  box  by  the  year  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  its  patrons,  and  the  letter-of-credit  department  had 
the  bestowal  of  it  on  Fridays.  Thanking  the  gentleman  I  told 
him  that  we  were  going  away  sooner  than  Friday,  and  could  not 
accept  his  offer.  Then  he  offered  to  direct  the  head  porter  (who 
appeared  in  gorgeous  uniform  and  spoke  good  English)  to  show 
me  over  their  vaults,  and  this  courtesy  I  immediately  accepted. 

The  huge  square  or  block  was  designed  originally  as  if  to  sur- 
round a  large  courtyard,  but  this  area  has  been  covered  with  four 
glass  floors  and  steel  beams  and  posts.  After  showing  me  the 
upper  floors  and  telling  me  that  the  building  contained  3400 
clerks,  of  whom  1400  were  women,  we  passed  through  the  elegant 
hall,  wherein  the  directors  met  for  deliberation,  and  passed  some 
of  the  uniformed  messengers,  of  whom  nearly  600  are  daily  at 
work  traversing  the  city  with  collections  to  be  made.  All  the  em- 
ployees lunch  in  two  large  dining-rooms  within  the  bank,  paying 
each  in  cash  for  a  comfortable  meal  about  20  cents.  There  is  a 
pension  fund  for  them  also.  , 

Then  we  went  down  below  the  street  level  into  the  safe  de- 
posit vaults,  which  are  about  400  feet  long,  300  feet  wide  and  100 
feet  in  depth,  but  divided  into  four  levels  by  means  of  the  glass 
floors.  These  apartments  are  beautifully  lighted,  warmed  and 
ventilated,  and  contain  350  large  iron  safes  and  each  safe  holds 
100  lock  boxes  making  a  total  of  35,000  safe  deposit  boxes. 

Standing  upon  the  lower  floor  and  looking  up  to  the  roof  one 
realizes  that  this  was  once  perhaps  the  courtyard  and  that  there 
are  eight  glass  floors  above  and  that  there  is  little  protection  from 
burglarious  atacks  from  the  roof.  The  explanation  probably  is 
this :  The  guards  at  night  are  strong  enough  to  cope  with  burg- 
lars and  the  only  danger  to  consider  is  that  from  mobs,  which 

33 


might  control  the  streets  for  some  days.  This  danger  is  one  which 
in  this  country  is  always  kept  in  view  and  our  vaults  are  always 
made  so  that  if  they  are  abandoned  to  rioters  for  forty-eight 
hours  they  will  defy  any  attempt  to  force  them.  Now  in  Paris 
during  the  reign  of  terror  of  the  commune  which  followed  the 
Franco-Prussian  war  the  Bank  of  France  and  the  Credit  Lyonnais 
and  other  banks  and  their  vaults  were  defended  only  by  a  handful 
of  porters  and  no  serious  attempt  was  made  by  the  commune  to 
rob  them.  It  must  be  that  the  French  habit  of  saving  is  so  uni- 
versal and  that  so  many  thousands  of  people  had  their  little  for- 
tunes in  these  banks  that  even  the  communists  did  not  dare  to 
force  the  flimsy  doors  and  weak  guards.  Anyhow  these  treasures 
were  undisturbed  until  the  last  day  when  carnage  and  fire  ran 
riot  in  Paris,  and  then  the  Bank  of  France  did  pay  out  less  than 
$100,000  to  the  rebels  to  keep  quiet  such  crazy  anarchists  as  were 
getting  beyond  the  control  of  their  leaders. 

After  inspecting  these  vaults  my  guide  took  me  through  sev- 
eral iron  gates  into  two  vaults  which  were  entirely  enclosed  on 
all  sides  with  iron  and  which  contained  the  cash  reserve  and 
securities  belonging  to  the  bank,  or  left  with  it  in  open  packages. 
As  the  custody  of  bonds,  coupons  and  shares  is  always  a  serious 
matter  and  much  like  herding  wild  cattle  where  eternal  vigilance 
is  the  price  of  safety,  this  department  interested  me  greatly.  The 
securities  are  placed  flat  in  covers  with  strings  to  tie  the  covers 
together.  They  took  out  one  book  from  the  shelf  in  one  iron 
safe  and  showed  the  label  on  the  side  which  gave  the  name  of  the 
owner  and  the  contents.  Then  they  untied  the  strings  and 
showed  me  several  United  States  six  per  cent  bonds,  evidently 
wishing  to  impress  me  with  their  knowledge  of  American  se- 
curities. I  immediately  testified  through  my  guide  that  I  recog- 
nized the  bonds  and  that  they  were  genuine,  but  they  must  look 
out  for  there  was  a  counterfeit  of  that  series,  which  information 
made  them  look  grave.  This  vault  contained  many  millions  or 
billions,  and  its  size  can  be  imagined  when  one  is  told  that  it  was 
occupied  by  three  men  and  forty  women.  In  our  country  the 
same  work  would  be  handled  by  two  or  three  men  without  much 
supervision  or  proving  of  their  honesty. 

In  Paris  these  women  are  employed  in  great  numbers  and  at 
small  wages,  and  the  systems  of  checking  and  re-checking  are 
very  thorough.  The  chief  of  this  vault  was  a  bright  French 
woman  and  escorted  us  around.  In  order  to  make  my  exit  in  gal- 
lant form  I  told  the  head  porter  to  say  to  her  that  all  the  ladies 
appeared  to  me  to  be  very  young  and  beautiful,  and  that  I  sup- 
posed that  this  large  vault  was  a  sort  of  nunnery  in  which  they 
were  confined  night  and  day  and  never  allowed  to  go  out.  Where- 
upon she  placed  her  right  hand  over  her  left  collarbone  and  said 
that  she  was  married  and  went  home  every  night.  I  left  Paris 
that  day. 

34 


Crawford  &  Prior,  Printers,  Sacramento,  Cal. 


Gaylamount 
Pamphlet 

Binder 
Gaylord  Bros.,  Inc. 

Stockton,  Calif. 
T.M.Rea-U.S.Pat.Off. 


YC  744*92 


M43 


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